Fiat 124 to spawn 'tuned' Abarth

Fiat is set to ramp up the performance of its just revealed 124 Spider with an Abarth version that will have more power from its 1.4-litre turbocharged engine.

Speaking moments after the car's reveal at the 2015 Los Angeles motor show, Fiat America boss Olivier Francois all but confirmed there would be more to the 124 Spider family.

"We might look at a tuned version," he said when asked about an Abarth version of the 124.

The 124 is based on the architecture of the Mazda MX-5 and is built on its Japanese production line.

Francois defends its much-hyped Italian heritage, arguing "this is the same recipe as the original 124 Spider – there's nothing more Italian than this".

"Half of the car is an engine, produced in Italy. The characteristics of the car are extremely similar to the original 124 Spider … a super fun-to-drive car and a perfect power-to-weight ratio."

Fiat 124 Spider Photo: Supplied

Despite sharing its basic proportions with the MX-5 the 124 Spider doesn't share any exterior body panels – only its folding hard top roof. And while there are interior components shared with the Mazda version, the upper dash, door panels and seat coverings are also unique to Fiat.

Yet despite the similarities in many ways the Fiat goes against the design ethos of the Mazda MX-5 that spawned it. At 1105kg it's about 10 per cent heavier than the Mazda.

That's in part due to the turbocharged 1.4-litre engine (with the turbo and intercooler adding weight), which makes 119kW – 1kW more than the most powerful 2.0-litre powered MX-5.

And the turbocharged engine is unlikely to have the near-instant, crisp response of the naturally-aspirated engines stipulated for the Mazda (engineers have dismissed a turbo as not having the response characteristics expected in the diminutive drop-top).

Francois defends it by abruptly saying "there's a turbo and it works".

He argues design is crucial to the 124's success.

"Style is fundamental … very important, this [car] is clearly an emotional purchase … style is one of the drivers. History, heritage, the story of the brand … it's a mix.